Chapter Eight
(gay gay)
Hamish Peachy was sitting in his boat, fishing pole in hand as he waited for any sign of a bite. He sighed, sitting back as he waited, he didn’t seem to be having any luck today. The fish weren’t biting… it wasn’t that bad though. He always had his husband to go back to if he gave up. Otis… he smiled just thinking about him.
They’d been through a lot together. From trying to keep their relationship a secret, to getting kicked out of town, to helping a small boy who ran up to their door when he was sad. He sat back a little more and closed his eyes for a moment. He felt himself start to drift off to sleep when…
“GET OUT OF HERE! I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN!” Hamish’s father screamed. He immediately shot awake again and huffed. It had been thirty goddamn years, and he still heard that parting message whenever he closed his eyes. Why was it so hard to forget? Hamish knew damn well his father hated him. He didn’t need to be told again… so why was it so hard?
He finally got a bite, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he reeled the fish in with ease. He smiled, reeling in the sunfish. It wasn’t very big, but if they paired it with some crawfish and some tea, it would make a good dinner. Hamish rowed the boat back to shore, making sure to watch out for gators on his way back, and went inside the cabin.
“I’m home, honey,” Hamish said, holding the still moving fish by its tail as he entered the cabin. Otis was still there, just chopping up some vegetables. He put the fish in a bucket, wiped his hands off on his jeans, and hugged his husband from behind.
“Hi, Hamish,” Otis said, putting his knife down and turning to look at him. Hamish smiled and let go of him, kissing his cheek.
“It’s nice to see you.”
“It’s nice to see you too. Now go sit down for a minute, I have dinner to make.” Otis said, pointing at the bed.
Hamish looked down for a moment, not moving otherwise. “But I can help…”
Otis just laughed at that, smiling for a moment. “Sweetheart, you can't cook for shit. Sorry, it’s just the truth.”
“I know, I know…” Hamish stood up and walked to the bed, sitting down and watching lovingly as his husband cooked dinner. For him, of all men. They’d been together for a long time, and it shocked him every time how caring Otis was. He was so gentle and slow when compared to Hamish’s constant energy. He just loved his husband so much…
“Hamish? Whatcha starin’ at? Is there a bug on me?” Otis asked, turning around and looking at himself.
“No- no you’re alright. I was just lookin’ at ya.” Hamish admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and giving him a small smile. Otis just sighed and smiled back, getting back to his cooking. They enjoyed a nice fish stew and ate together at their small dinner table.
Otis was clasping Hamish’s hand, as he ate his food slowly. He sighed, wondering where all the time had gone. They were both over fifty now, and the boy they had practically had to raise themselves was married and had an adopted child. Suddenly Otis wished they hadn’t wasted all those years hiding their love for each other and had just come here from the start.
Hamish didn’t hear the sigh, so he didn’t look up from his food. He looked happy still, eating and holding Otis’ hand. When the door knocked, he looked up and watched as Otis went to the door and opened it. Danny and another man were standing there, holding hands with bright smiles as they came inside.
“This is Ron,” Danny said, turning and smiling at the other man. This man, Ron, didn’t take another second to kiss him passionately. The kiss was short and sweet, and both of them looked happy when it was over. Hamish just laughed.
“Get a room!” He exclaimed, before standing up and shaking Ron’s hand. “I’m Hamish Peachy, a pleasure to meet ya. That’s my husband Otis back there. We’re Danny’s uncles.”
“Nice to meet you too, sir,” Ron said, shaking his hand in return. Hamish noticed quickly that this man’s handshake wasn’t as firm as he’d like it to be. Hm.
-
It had only been a week since the wedding, and all Danny wanted to do was get out of this marriage. Sure, it wasn’t too bad. Lucy was gone most of the day, reading in the library with her friend Alice. And when she was home she didn’t even ask to do anything even remotely sexual with him, so this wasn’t too bad. But still, he hated the very idea of being married to a woman and being in the same bed as her…
Danny, on the other hand, spent most of his day at the train station, with Vinnie. They’d have long chats about whatever came to the kid's mind. He was so bright, and a little smartass sometimes. He swore like there was no tomorrow, to the point Danny didn’t even scold him anymore because it was no use. He didn’t even know some of those words, where had he learned them?
“So that, Uncle is why horseless carriages will never happen on a big scale,” Vinnie said, finishing a little speech he’d given.
“You gave some fair points. But here’s another topic, flight. What’d do you think about it.”
“It’ll never happen in anythin’ that’s not a balloon!” Vinnie insisted, starting on another speech about how everything would be too heavy to get off the ground and it’d never work. Danny wasn’t listening, really. He cared about what the kid had to say, but his mind was thinking about Ron. That’s why he spent so much time at the train station. He hoped that one of these days, he would get off of the train and they could walk into the sunset together, hand in hand.
That was wishful thinking. He was lucky if Ron came here at all, and even if he did he’d have to stay with his Uncle’s, sleeping on their couch. And he would even stay forever, a few months if he was lucky. He wished Ron could stay forever, but his family would never accept him. And as much as he loved Hamish and Otis, he didn’t want to turn out like them.
“Uncle? Hello, are you there?” Vinnie asked.
“Oh. I’m sorry kid, I was… thinkin’.”
“About Ron?”
“...how’d ya know?”
“You always have that sad look on your face when you think ‘bout that guy. I don’t know why he makes you so sad, you seem to love him a lot.”
“... he’s not the one makin’ me sad, son. It’s that I won’t ever get a real future with him. I’m stuck in a future I don’t wanna live in.” He admitted. He sighed, putting his head down. Vinnie was just a kid, he shouldn’t have to deal with Danny’s sadness. It wasn’t his fault that the world was out to get him and he’d never be truly happy. So stop dumping all your problems onto the kid for once.
“Sorry, Uncle. I can be bad, maybe Lucy’ll leave you then!” Vinnie exclaimed, but Danny shook his head.
“No. You don’t have to do a thing, alright? I’m an adult, I can deal with my issues myself, okay? Your only job is to practice your readin’ and behavin’, okay?”
“Alright. So, anyways, Pa- Uncle.”
“Hm? Pa…? Do you think of me as a father figure?”
“Yeah… I guess. Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ Vinnie started, but Danny just pulled the kid into a hug and smiled proudly.
“You can call me whatever you’d like, son. Pa, Uncle, whatever you’d like.” Danny said with a smile and a pat on the back and he separated the hug.
“Oh! Okay then, Pa! As I was tryin’ to say-“ Vinnie continued talking for most of the day, and train after train came through. Nothing. He wanted to give up, at this point. It was almost sundown, and he hadn’t made dinner of any kind. He should really go home, but he had a feeling and he just couldn’t ignore it. He stayed seated and everything around him went quiet for a second when finally the last train of the day rolled into the station.
The doors opened silently, and the only person to walk out was none other than Ron Soto. Danny swore he felt his heart leap in his chest when he saw him, and he just got up and staggered over to him with an awestruck look on his face. Ron was staring at him in the same way, and they looked at each other in silence for over a minute.
“...Danny?” Ron finally said, breaking the silence.
“Hi Ron,” Danny said as he smiled at his lover. He wanted to leap into his arms and kiss him like there was no tomorrow, and the only thing keeping him from doing that right this second was the fact that there were other people around.
“It’s so great to see you.” Ron smiled back, as the two of them happily walked back to the bench so they could talk about what to do next. He waved at Vinnie, who shyly waved back. “Hi, kid.”
“You’re Ron?”
“I am. It’s great to meet you, buddy.” Ron said with a yawn. “So… where am I gonna stay?”
“I know a place. It’s safe… you’ll be okay there. Let’s drop off Vinnie and then we can go there. Come on, son.” Danny explained, getting up and walking towards his house. Vinnie and Ron followed him, and it was completely silent. It was a bit awkward, as Danny brought Vinnie inside. “Lucy? Ya home?”
“I am! Are you making dinner?” She called back from the bedroom.
“No! I have to go back out, I’m sorry! I’ll make a good breakfast tomorrow.”
“Fine!”
Danny just left after that. He was still giddy from Ron being here, and all those thoughts about the future just fell out of him as he remembered that he was here. He didn’t even care how long it was for, he was here and that was all that mattered. He grabbed Ron’s hand and went running into the woods next to his house.
“Whoa- Danny, where are we going?” Ron asked, a bit confused and worried about why they were running. He just turned and smiled, which didn’t give Ron any type of answer.
Danny finally stopped at his Uncle’s house. Ron looked incredibly confused and was gripping his hand tight when Danny knocked on the door. He turned and looked down at him with his brightest smile.
“Don’t worry, hon.”
That’s when the door opened and Otis greeted them. Danny gripped his hand a bit tighter as they came inside. He turned towards Ron and introduced him, when finally, finally, he leaned down and kissed the man. He wrapped his arms around him, and Ron did the same but around his neck. When they finally separated, Hamish was laughing and teasing them a bit, but they didn’t care.
Once all of the formalities were finished, Ron and Danny just sat on the couch in each other’s arms. They were looking at each other, finding little things about the other that had changed in their time apart. Ron had new scars, and Danny’s eyes were sunken in, more than before. He looked tired. But more than anything, they were just happy to have each other again.
“Did you seriously wait there all day for me? Me? What’d you do that for?”
“I… I don’t know, I wanted to see ya and I just hoped ya would come. And ya did, so it worked out in the end.”
“I guess. You were just lucky though, okay? Don’t do stuff like that again! Live your life, don’t let me hold you back!” Ron said, giving him a small kiss and hugging him tightly. He wasn’t letting go anytime soon.
“I won’t. I love ya, Ron. I missed you so bad…”
“I love you too.”
